It Was a Possible Scenario
by InosBane
Summary: As a Medic, Sakura always knew it was a possible scenario...KibaSaku Belated Happy Birthday to Kiba
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I wrote this in honor of Kiba's birthday (yesterday), but didn't get it typed up in time. An Extra Special Thanks (big bright anime eyes style) to my friend Marilynn whose medical knowledge far, far exceeds my own (meaning I don't have any but she has lots!). I am forever your minion!  
**Doushita no**-What's wrong?, **Onegai-shimasu**-polite form of "please", **Iiya**-no

**Disclaimer: **If Naruto belonged to me, Sakura and Kiba would stand a snowball's chance in Antarctica.

**Chapter 1**

Twelve hours into a forty-eight hour shift, Haruno Sakura lay asleep on a futon in the hospital break room. Her last patient had been seen a half hour ago, and she wasn't scheduled to do rounds for another hour. Her body was lax and there was a tiny puddle of drool pooled on the pillow she was hugging tightly. A CD player on a nearby table filled the dark room with soft music. The pink haired medic sighed in her sleep and rolled over on her back. In the next few seconds, the serenity of the afternoon was destroyed.

"Sakura-san?" A female's voice called as the break room door slammed open and the light from the hallway flooded in.

Sakura sat up shielding her eyes from the glare. She recognized the tiny silhouette of Shizune's newest apprentice.

"Hikari-chan?" She asked muffling a yawn. "Doushita no?"

"Sakura-san, please hurry, onegai-shimasu." Hikari beckoned. "Shizune-sensei sent me to get you, she needs to see you right away."

Sakura nodded and followed the girl to where Shizune was pacing in front of Operating Room 7.

"Shizune-san?" She called softly, "doushita no?"

The dark haired woman swung around and Sakura was momentarily taken aback by the rage in her expression. But as Shizune reached out her hand to her commrade, the anger was transformed to sadness.

"Sakura-san," she whispered, clasping hands with the younger woman, "it's Kiba-san."

"Kiba?" Sakura repeated. "Iiya, Kiba's on a mission with his squad." She shook her head disbelieving, yet felt the panic begin to rise within her. "It was C-Rank, just a simple mission escorting a Tea Merchant. Nothing dangerous."

Shizune shook her head sadly.

"You know we make a point of checking up on the clients before we send anyone out. There _**was**_ a Tea Merchant who requested an escort, but this guy wasn't him."

Despite the warmth of the hallway Sakura felt a chill run through her.

"This guy was a thief named Sato Namaru. He was wanted for crimes committed in Amegakure. It appears he killed the real merchant and stole his identity. When the party got to Numa Bridge they were ambushed by Ame Jounin.  
The Hokage's still trying to find out why they didn't try to contact Kiba-san and give him a head's up. We think they might have thought we were trying to help him get away, this could very easily have started a war," Shizune sighed. "Kiba-san and his squad fought valiantly, but the genin were no match for the Ame Jounin. You've fought them, you know how hard they are to defeat." The brown eyes began to fill with angry tears. "If it hadn't been for Akamaru, they would've been killed, Kiba-san included."

While she spoke, Shizune had watched as Sakura's expression morphed from disbelief to worry to horror in the space of mere moments.

"They're being cleaned and prepped now. Tsume-san personally requested that you be the one to treat Kiba-san. Listen," She said quickly as Sakura opened her mouth. "What you're being asked to do is nothing less that what Tsunade-sama faced when she tried to save my Uncle Dan, but only you can decide if you're up to it. If you think it'd be too much I need you to tell me now and I'll assign you to one of the genin. Make no mistake, every one of them has serious injuries, and any one of them could die. I wish I could give you more time, but we've wasted enough as it is, I need you to make your decision now."

Sakura took a deep breath. As a Medic, she'd always known that this was a possible scenario, but she'd always hoped…

"Where's Akamaru?" She asked, knowing that would be his first question.

"Hana-san's got him at her clinic. She said he's pretty bad off, but he'll pull through."

Sakura nodded, taking off her gloves.

"Let me know as soon as there's word on his team," she said grimly before striding through the doors of the operating room where her boyfriend lay.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I'm typing this while I listen to my son read _Where the Red Fern Grows_ by Wilson Rawls out loud. If you've never read it, do so, it's brilliant! Also, so far as my studying goes, _The Japanese Way: Aspects of Behavior, Attitudes and Customs of the Japanese _by Noriko Takada and Rita L. Lampkin is an excellent teacher! **Anata**-How a wife refers to her husband when speaking to him…no they're not married, but in my eyes five years together is close enough.** Mochiron**-of course!, **Gomen nasai**-most respectful way of apologizing

**Disclaimer:** Same as before, I'm not Kishimoto.

**Chapter 2  
**  
Despite being cleaned by the nurses, when Sakura first saw Kiba's face all she was able to make out of his features were his eyes. He had a wide gash beside his left eye and a broken nose, his torso was a mess of torn flesh and thick red fluid. Kiba had been sliced from his shoulder to his navel; which at a first glance appeared to have missed all his vital organs, but Sakura knew better than to put her faith in first impressions. However, the way his leg stuck out at an odd angle left no question in her mind that it was broken. If a skilled jounin was this injured, she wondered how bad off the genin must be.

"Has he been given anything?" She asked exhaling slowly, trying and failing to forget just who was on the operating table.

"Hai Haruno-san, .68mg of fentanyl, and 68mg of versed. Due to the damage we thought a twilight sleep would be best."

Sakura nodded taking another deep breath and concentrated on directing chakra to her hands. When her power was almost at it's max, she felt something touch her hip. Looking down she saw Kiba's fingertips grazing her shirt.

"I'm here, anata." She whispered laying her chakra-infused hands onto his wounded chest.

o-o-o

Hours later, an exhausted Sakura appeared in the waiting room to find a large group of people anxious for news on Kiba's condition. Kiba's mother, Inuzuka Tsume sat with his sister, Hana. Their eyes were red-rimmed, and Tsume's normally fierce expression was replaced with one of agony. Next to them sat Kiba's former sensei, Sarutobi Kurenai and her young son Asumaru. Across the aisle huddled Kiba's former teammates, a stone-faced Aburame Shino and a devastated looking Hyuuga Hinata who was clutching the hand of her fiance, Uzumaki Naruto.

It was Shino who first noticed Sakura's entrance. His gasp alerted the others who also stared at the medic waiting to find out how the Dog-Nin had fared.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto's blue eyes were searching hers looking for good news.

"He's going to be out of commission for about a month, but he'll be fine," Sakura smiled dazedly.

A cheer erupted from the group and hugs were passed around, Shino collapsing with relief into a chair, Hinata burying her face in Naruto's chest. Tsume stood and walked shakily towards her son's girlfriend.

"I wasn't sure at first you know," the older woman admitted taking Sakura into her arms. "But Kiba kept telling me over and over that you were the one. Gomen nasai," she choked. "I never should have doubted."

With that, the otherwise formidable kunoichi collapsed into tears on Sakura's shoulder. Her daughter Hana came over and put her arm around Sakura hugging her tightly.

"You're part of the family now, so as soon as a pup's available it's yours. Don't worry," she laughed at Sakura's wide eyes. "We don't expect you to become an Inuzuka overnight. Now," she asked the question on everyone's mind. "When will we be able to see my brother?"

Sakura smiled and patted Tsume's back.

"He's being moved right now, so give him about fifteen minutes to get settled. If he's awake he'll be really groggy, so don't expect too much from him for a few hours."

"I need to go home first anyway," Tsume sniffed. "There's something I need to get, something he's been asking for."

"I'll sit with him," Hana volunteered. "When he does come 'round he'll be wondering about Akamaru." She nodded her head at Sakura. "You should probably get some rest too, you look like you're about ready to drop."

Sakura agreed, knowing only too well how close she was to collapsing.

"Tell him I'll be by to see him soon."

o-o-o

When Sakura opened her eyes, it was with a great deal of shock that she read the clock on the table.

"3am?" She breathed.

How could she have slept for seven hours? Did Shizune know? She'd be furious!

"Shimatta," she grunted sliding her feet into her sandals.

Opening the door, Sakura very nearly trampled the one person she'd hoped most to avoid.

"So you're finally awake," Shizune smirked while Sakura picked her jaw up off the floor. "It's okay, I called in Ino-san to cover you , I know that was exhausting. What you did taxed you not only physically but emotionally. It's always hard with a loved one, you needed your rest."

Sakura blushed slightly as she bowed.

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Shizune-san," she said gratefully. "I was hoping to stop in and see Kiba before I start my rounds, if it's okay."

There was a sparkle of something Sakura didn't recognize in the dark haired woman's eyes.

"Mochiron," she smiled patting Sakura on the shoulder. "I think that's a wonderful idea. He's in Room 119, I already stopped in earlier to tell him about his team. Don't worry, they're fine." She laughed and Sakura sighed with relief. "Though none of them will be up to training anytime soon."

Sakura bowed feeling sad for the group of genin. Kiba had been training them hard for almost two years, he'd promised them they could take part in the next Chuunin Exam. It now looked like another six months before they'd be up to competing. Fighting the urge to run, Sakura walked as quickly as she could through the corridors to room 119. Inhaling deeply she knocked on the door before sliding it open.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Am I totally predictable? Backstory to come later. **Anechan**-older sister when you're not talking to her

**Disclaimer:** I'm not Kishimoto…but I think I've mentioned that a time or two.

**Chapter 3**

Kiba was pale, only a shade or two darker than the pillowcase. His eyes were half closed, but when he realized who had entered the room he smiled lazily.

"I was wondering when you'd stop by," his voice came out as a soft growl. "Thought maybe you'd seen something that scared you off."

Sakura felt the tears begin to sting her eyes.

"There's nothing you've got that I haven't seen before," she smirked.

Kiba laughed hoarsely, and unable to restrain herself any longer, Sakura climbed into his bed, threw her arms around him and kissed the uninjured parts of his face.

"Oi, I'm okay. Didn't you say so yourself?"

Sakura smiled and wiped her eyes.

"That doesn't mean I wasn't scared," she sniffed.

Kiba smiled, "you wanna talk about being scared? If it wasn't for Akamaru that would've been the end of us." He closed his eyes and sighed, "onesan says he'll be alright, he just needs a few weeks rest."

Sakura laid her head on his good shoulder.

"Sounds like the same prescription for all of you."

"Hai, those kids are gonna kill me. I made them wait for two years…now there's no way they'll be ready for the Exam. Promise me the next time the exams come around you won't let me take them on any missions other than finding lost pets, okay?"

Sakura nodded but remained silent, knowing that if she had her way those would be the only missions he was assigned from now on. Snuggling closer, her thoughts drifted to Sarutobi Kurenai, Kiba's former sensei who'd lost her husband while pregnant. She remembered how Asuma's death had personally affected just about everyone in the village. He'd been Team 10's sensei, and Sakura had watched her best frenemy, Yamanaka Ino struggle with the grief and misplaced guilt of not being able to save him; she'd seen how hard Kiba and his teammates had tried to help Kurenai. A sudden realization came over her and she was disappointed that she'd never made the connection before. Sakura finally understood why Kiba kept shrugging off the idea of marriage even though she'd been hinting at it for the last three of their five years together. He'd watched his sensei struggle for the first couple of years after Asuma's death, and knowing what could've happened today…it finally all made sense! If the Konoha 11 had lost one of their own…it would be different than when Sasuke left. There would be no retrieval squad this time.

"You still awake?" He whispered.

"Hai, I'm gonna have to start rounds soon, is there anything I can get you before I leave?"

"Ten more minutes and a glass of water?" He asked without hesitation.

She smiled, he was already returning to his old self. She got up and found the pitcher of water, filled his glass halfway and handed it to him. He took a long drink then setting it down, looked at her with an unreadable expression.

"Listen, I uh, I know there's a topic that you think I've been avoiding, and I guess I have." He looked at his hands before continuing. "My clan is matriarchal, because it's the mother who takes care of the pups, and I had to get my mom's blessing. Maybe I should've explained this to you before, I'm pretty sure I handled it all wrong and made you think sometimes that I didn't love you."

Could he suddenly read her mind? Sakura flashed on memories of arguments, Kiba storming off with Akamaru leaving her in tears. Watching Temari have her baby and experiencing a tremendous amount of envy. Wondering what she must've done in her life that she'd earned rejection from the two men she'd loved. She felt the tears start to rise again.

"Kiba, I…"

"Listen," Kiba hurriedly interrupted. "It's not that my mom didn't like you, it's just that…well, you know how she is. She thinks people need to prove themselves, she tests everyone, even her own kids. He growled in frustration. "I'm not making any sense am I?" He smiled sadly.

"Actually, this is clearing up a lot for me," she replied. "It's not that you didn't want to marry me, you just need the approval of the clan. Am I right?"

"Hai, but don't think they didn't approve of you from the start. It's just we're a wild and crazy group. The Inuzuka Clan isn't for the faint of heart."

Sakura felt immediately guilty for her thoughts about what missions she'd choose for him and was very glad she hadn't voiced that opinion when he pulled a small red box off of the bedside table.

"Itsumo issho ni itaidesu," he said simply as he opened the box and Sakura found herself staring at a large claw shaped ruby ring.

"Anou, what do you think?" He asked when a minute went by and she still hadn't said anything. He wondered if, after all that had just happened, this was still what she wanted.

"Oh Kiba," she finally whispered bringing her hands up to her mouth.

"Kiba of course. Yes, you know I feel the same way."

She leaned over and kissed him deeper than she'd dared to just moments before. He was going to be alright, and they were going to be married. All the what ifs, and fears were locked away in a drawer at the back of her mind labeled "Possible scenarios" to be dealt with when the time came, not today. Afterall, she reasoned with herself, you can't live your life based on the fear of what _**could**_ happen when there were so many wonderful things happening all around.

**o-o-o**OWARI**o-o-o**

**A/N**: **Itsumo issho ni itaidesu translates to "I want to be with you always" and is tantamount to a marriage proposal.**


End file.
